


Whiteout Conditions

by Kendrene



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Major Character Injury, Nightmares, Post Season 2, no betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:12:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kendrene/pseuds/Kendrene
Summary: The Mountain has fallen under the combined force of the Coalition and the Sky People and the Alliance sought by Heda Lexa endures. With winter fast approaching the grounders are helping the Skai People with hunting and foraging, but not everything goes according to plan.ORThe one where Clarke gets lost in a snowstorm and Lexa does some rescuing.





	Whiteout Conditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GillyTweed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GillyTweed/gifts).



> For co-author extraordinaire and hurt/comfort expert Gillytweed and for Ike11000 who unfortunately does not have an account on here (so I can properly gift them) 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy. As usual feedback is much appreciated.

Clarke should have known that listening to Bellamy was a terrible idea. 

She had tried to argue they should go back as soon as the sky began to fill with grey, heavy clouds, but he had been adamant about wanting to return to Camp Jaha with prey. They had left early that morning among a number of other hunting parties, one of them led by Heda herself to forage supplies for the coming winter. 

The sky had been a deep blue that morning and Clarke would never have guessed that a storm could come so quickly. Horns had echoed among the trees, recalling the hunting parties, but they had been hot on the trail of a deer and Bellamy had kept going backed by Miller and the other guardsmen.

She had had the distinct impression that they were trying to prove themselves to the grounders, to show the clans that Skaikru was worth the alliance Heda had wanted with them. Clarke had been outnumbered and had been left with no other choice but follow them, since she didn’t know that part of the woods too well yet, but no more than an hour later they had been forced to call off their chase. 

Temperature had dropped surprisingly fast and then snow had begun to fall, soft and gentle at first before a cutting wind had picked up and the flakes had turned into an impenetrable white wall. 

Now Clarke had to squint to see where she was going, the guard in front of her a confused silhouette that blinked in and out of existence with every gust of wind. Her eyes watered with the effort and her ears hurt from the wind’s constant moaning and the creaking of trees. 

She regretted not having gone with Lexa’s group, as the Commander surely had turned back when the first horn was sounded, if not called a stop to the hunt herself, but they had been sort of avoiding each other since the fall of the Mountain. Clarke felt warmth spread inside her chest every time she recounted their one and only kiss, but at the same time she was guilt ridden at her own joy, the faces of the people she’d had to kill inside Mt. Weather haunting her dreams. 

Perhaps she should talk to Lexa about it, since the grounder leader surely knew how to deal with the horrors that war left inside its survivors, yet there never seemed to be a right time, an alone time for them as their people’s demands grew daily. 

Clarke stumbled, shaking her head at her own wandering thoughts and refocusing her attention to the ground at her feet. She bent down to grab the branch that had almost tripped her and threw it to the side, so that the man behind her wouldn’t risk twisting an ankle.

When she raised her gaze to look ahead, opening her mouth to call Bellamy and suggest they find some shelter where they could ride out the storm, air left her lungs in a rush. The way ahead was empty, save for the swirling snow and when she stopped, glancing behind her, the guard who had been bringing up the rear had vanished too.

“Bellamy!” She shouted, voice immediately swallowed by the raging wind, “anyone? Bellamy!” 

No answer was forthcoming and the blonde realized with a sick lurch of her stomach that she was alone and completely lost. The wind died for a moment and she caught a glimpse of trees close to her left. She moved to huddle against them, using the momentary respite to calm the frantic beating of her heart, eyes scanning her surroundings in search of a familiar landmark.

The task proved to be an impossible one however, weak light coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once, the snowfall cancelling the line between sky and ground. 

Clarke tugged the fur collar of the jacket Lexa had gifted her more tightly around her neck, before fishing into her backpack with a gloved hand to recover a heavy shawl that she wound around her face to protect it from the cold, leaving just a slit so she could see where she was going. She had enough dry rations to last two days if she was careful and her canteen was still more than half full. 

Wind whistled among the trees, violently buffeting her frame and she hunched over, using the tree trunk she had been leaning against as a shield until the gale changed direction, lifting a puff of white off the ground and blinding her for an instant. 

Standing still for too long was out of the question, Clarke knew, feet already going numb inside her boots no matter how much she shifted them. At best she would end up with frostbite, lose some toes at worst. But she had read accounts from the days when man was still exploring Earth and how people died out in the cold, closing their eyes just for an instant and never waking up again.

She needed to find shelter before night fell or, failing that, build herself one. Her pack held tinder and a flint, but unless the wind died down a bit Clarke doubted she could easily start a fire. 

If she ever made it back to Camp Jaha in one piece she was going to tear Bellamy a new one.

******************************************

“She was right in front of me, ma’am” Bellamy watched Guardsman Henning shift uneasily under the combined stares of Chancellor Griffin and the Commander, his own cheeks burning with shame even as his gut twisted in worry. “I blinked and then she was gone... “ the guard swallowed thickly, “we called and tried to look but…” he trailed off and cast a desperate look towards him, silently begging for help. 

“We did look,” Bellamy strode forward and he had to clear his throat before continuing, finding himself unable to meet the women’s eyes, “but then realized we would end up getting lost ourselves, so we figured the best thing to do was making it back here and reporting it in.” 

Silence fell inside the meeting room, and he clenched his fists, feeling all their stares like a sack of stones on his back. Nobody had said it was his fault, but they may as well have and he knew that they wouldn’t have been wrong. He’d wanted to come back with a deer and show off - instead Clarke was out there in the storm, risking her life because of his stupidity. 

“We need to go look for her,” he blurted out when the silence became unbearable, “if you have a map I can show you roughly where we were when the snowstorm hit. If we retrace our steps…”

But the Commander was raising a hand and shushing him even before he could finish.

“Not in this weather,” the metal walls of the building groaned under the wind’s assault, lending weight to her words, “as you said we would just get lost.”

He opened his mouth to argue further, but she spoke on, ignoring his attempt, “Klark is smart and willful,” her voice had softened and Bellamy wasn’t sure whether the words were for him or Clarke’s mother, “she will make it through.” Lexa concluded, placing a hand on the Chancellor’s arm. Abby just nodded, casting a dark look his way.

The grounder leader issued a string of orders in her language, speaking too quickly for Bellamy to understand even half of what she said,  and one of her warriors stepped up to him, grabbing him by the elbow and steering him out the door. 

“I have a map,” the man explained gruffly when Bellamy tried to pull away, “you will show me which part of the woods you were in.” The youth stopped struggling and went along without protest, eager to help fix the mess he’d caused in the first place.  

Lexa watched everyone shuffle to file out of the room, Abi ushering Kane along when it looked like he wanted to stay and discuss further. Once the room had emptied, she allowed herself to slump forward, resting her hands flat on the metal table they had been standing around. She wanted to leave the safety of the camp’s walls and go look for Clarke despite her own words of caution, and knew that it was a reckless desire, stemming from the depths of her own heart. 

But Heda could not afford to be reckless, not even for the girl from the sky who had taken a hold of her heart, so she straightened her shoulders with a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for the one she had sent for. 

Lexa didn’t have to wait long, her keen ears immediately picking up the quiet footsteps echoing down the corridor. She leaned forward, just as a shadow fell across the doorway.

“Heda, you sent for me?” 

“Sha, Thany.” The warrior hurried inside at her words, grimacing when her shoulder brushed against one of the metal walls. Like many of the grounders Lexa had brought to help Camp Jaha prepare for winter, the tall woman didn’t like being inside the metal structure, claiming it smelled too cold and weird to her. 

“I heard about the skayon, Heda,” Thany spoke quietly, gently, directing her a knowing look she dared only because they were alone, “you wish me to find her?” 

Lexa nodded, relieved for some reason that the other woman had spoken first, saving her an explanation. “We’ll go together once the snow storm abates. In the meantime I want you to ready teams of two - only the best trackers - and prepare supplies.” 

The warrior nodded slowly. “I’ll take a look at the map once the skai boy has shown Angus which route they took so that we can assign a search area to each pair of trackers,” Thany hesitated, taking a long look at Lexa’s face and wetting her lips, “we’ll find her, Heda.” 

The words were spoken so softly that they were almost lost among the groaning of the building’s walls, but Lexa heard them anyway and wondered how many of her people had guessed that her interest in Clarke was far from simple friendship, if the Commander could be said to have friends. Anya would have known immediately, had she still been around. 

At the thought of her dead General Lexa smiled sadly, hand patting the small pouch at her belt where she kept the braid of Anya’s hair that Clarke had given her the first time they’d met. 

“Leave me for now,” she murmured softly, “I wish to meditate.” 

She didn’t bother to watch Thany leave, dropping to the hard floor in a cross-legged position, back pressed against the wall. The chill of metal slowly seeped through her clothes, but it wasn’t the reason why blood ran cold through her veins. Images of Clarke, still and blue with frost in the deep snow kept flashing through her mind, and it took her a long time to still her racing thoughts. 

When calm finally came it was a fragile thing, thin as the most treacherous ice, but it was enough that the storm inside of her abated while the one outside raged on, seemingly without end.

******************************************

“Where am I? What is this place?” 

Clarke asked the question out loud, but the shadows she could glimpse at the corner of her eye gave no answer. She remembered walking, being cold (she thought she had fallen and cut her hands)  but now she sat at a long, empty table, in a grey room where the very light lacked color and she couldn’t help but wonder whether it was a dream or if the storm had been a product of her mind and this was reality.

“Where am I? What’s happening?” She tried again, voice cracking with disquiet.

“Well dear, you’re dead. Obviously.” There was a dry chuckle and the shadows that had shrouded the other end of the table lifted, revealing a man she knew well. A man she had killed. 

Dante Wallace regarded her serenely over steepled fingers, a small, mocking smile curving his thin lips. He was grey like the rest, except for the gaping hole in his chest, from which scarlet blood dripped, coalescing into a sticky pool at his feet. 

“This is bullshit,” Clarke tried to scrape the chair back and stand, but her seat wouldn’t move, no matter how hard she pushed against the table, “you are dead and this is a dream.” 

“Oh is it now?” he replied, smirk never wavering, “are you sure this isn’t Hell?” 

“W-what?” Clarke stilled, mouth souring with his words, “why would I be here?” 

“Don’t you think that you deserve it?” A woman’s voice cut in and the blonde gasped, a second figure suddenly coming into focus at the table, sitting at an equal distance between her and Dante. Anya’s dark, unforgiving eyes met hers, the woman lounging in her seat as if the gunshot wound exposing her chest cavity was nothing. “I’ve taken my share of lives, but you...you murdered a whole people in cold blood. You killed  _ me _ .”

“I did not shoot you!” Clarke protested, words bitter with the knowledge that if she hadn’t dragged Anya to the Skaikru walls, the woman would still be alive, “and they left me no choice!” She pointed a trembling hand to Dante, but he seemed unfazed by her outburst. 

“There’s always a choice,” the two shades said in unison, then Dante pointed to the table, and Clarke gasped. She was sure it had been empty a moment before, but now it was piled high with food of all sorts - fragrant bread and fresh fruit, roasts and wheels of cheese - more than the three of them would ever be able to eat. 

“Dine with us,” Dante picked up a loaf of bread and tore it in two, “since you’re gonna be here a while….” He gave a shrill laugh and, to Clarke’s horror, the table was suddenly swarming with maggots of all kinds, the food rotting under her astonished gaze. More larvae fell from Dante’s wound and the blonde didn’t dare look at Anya again, for fear of what she’d see if she did. 

Maggots crawled in her direction and, realizing that her hands were still resting on the table, Clarke tried to snatch them back, but an invisible force held her in place, and as the worms began to crawl onto her flesh, she screamed. 

Dante’s laughs grew louder. 

******************************************

“Thany!” Lexa dropped to her knees, frantically digging at the snow with her hands, “over here!” 

The other woman was next to her in a flash and it took only minutes until Clarke’s body came fully into view. It had been covered by a thick layer of snow, and Lexa had almost missed the girl’s pack peeking through. She tore off one of her gloves with her teeth, reaching out to tug the collar of Clarke’s jacket out of the way and feel her pulse. It was so feeble that it took her a fear-filled moment to find it, but even as she did the Commander knew that the blonde was still in danger. 

“She tried to dig a snow cave,” Thany muttered, observing the lay of the land around the girl, “but her body must have given out from exhaustion.” Lexa just nodded, heart hammering in her throat, and together they freed Clarke’s legs before she gathered the unconscious girl into her arms and stood, muscles screaming with the effort

“There is a cave nearby where we can build a fire and warm her up,” Thany suggested, “I can make a litter.” 

“Lead on. I’ll carry her,” Lexa ordered curtly, unwilling to lose time. The quicker they got to the cave, the sooner she could get Clarke out of her wet clothes and into warm blankets. She could feel how cold Clarke’s body was, even through her own layer of clothes and hear how light and shallow her breathing sounded. 

Thany obeyed without question, walking as briskly as she dared on the slippery ground, and glancing back at Lexa every few steps. The Commander grit her teeth and pushed on, cursing softly every time her boots slid on hidden ice. More than once she risked tumbling to the ground along with Clarke, but for a twist of fate - or perhaps because the spirits were watching over them - she managed to stay upright. 

Just when her legs were ready to give out, she spotted the sheer face of a cliff among the trees, and the land under her feet gradually sloped upwards. She grunted with effort, and when Thany took Clarke from her, carrying her the last few meters to the cave’s mouth, Lexa was too winded to protest.

She stumbled into the cave’s shade after her warrior, just in time to see Thany ease Clarke onto the ground. The two of them worked quickly, Thany starting a fire while Lexa laid out the blankets they had brought between them. The tracker fed the small fire until it roared, orange tongues of flame reaching higher than than their heads for a moment, filling the small cave with light and warmth. 

They propped Clarke up and disrobed her quickly, Thany gathering the wet clothes into a bundle and moving off to the far side of the cave, back turned to afford her Heda and the unconscious girl a bit of privacy. Lexa blushed fiercely at the implication, face heating up further as the realization that Clarke lay naked in her arms hit her fully. This was not the way she’d envisioned it happening. 

She shook her head angrily, silently chastising herself for her foolishness. Now was not the time to have such thoughts. 

The brunette wrapped the thickest blanket around Clarke’s cold body, wrapping her arms around the girl’s shoulders and hugging her close, as she sat with her back against the cave’s rough wall. The blonde groaned weakly, muttering something under her breath, and Lexa pressed her cheek to Clarke’s shushing her gently. 

Her fingers moved to the blonde’s brow, pushing wet strands of hair away from the girl’s face. 

“She’s not warming up!” Lexa called, lifting her worried gaze to Thany as Clarke was wracked by a violent shiver. 

Thany dropped the wet clothes and turned on her heel sharply, alarmed by the Commander’s tone. 

“The blankets alone aren’t enough Heda. You must get under them with her,” the tracker had to make a conscious effort to avoid rolling her eyes, “without armor.” She added, fighting down a smirk at her Heda’s fierce blush. It was strange to see the Commander’s stoic facade crack, but despite what others said, Thany found it a good change. She remembered Lexa’s Conclave and her ascension and how Costia’s death had hardened her, turning her cold. Heda had steel in her veins, iron in her spine, but even metal of the highest quality could break if tempered too soon. The warrior taught it was a good thing that Clarke had found her way into Heda’s heart before that could happen. 

She was jerked back to the present by the clattering of Lexa’s armor as it hit the floor. The Commander had laid Clarke down for a moment, so that she could undo the straps keeping her cuirass in place, and Thany crouched down next to her, helping her with the clasps that the brunette couldn’t reach by herself. 

“Your clothes too,” she stated evenly, causing Heda’s hands to falter, “fabric would trap any warmth coming from your body.” 

Lexa’s mouth went dry at Thany’s words, even though she knew that the warrior was right. She grunted an agreement, keeping her eyes trained stubbornly to the ground as she discarded her clothes, and closing them as she slipped under the blankets, shivering with how chilled Clarke’s skin felt against her own. 

She pulled the blonde as close to her as she could, until their bodies were flush against each other, and despite the dangers of the situation, she couldn’t help but notice how soft Clarke’s curves were, how well the blonde’s body fit against her own more angular frame. 

She was dimly aware of Thany murmuring about keeping watch and moving off to the side, but she was too preoccupied with tucking Clarke’s face securely against her collarbone, too worried about counting the spaces between each beat of the blonde’s heart. 

Ever so slowly warmth gathered under the blankets and the shivers that had been cursing down Clarke’s back became less frequent. Lexa fought a losing battle to keep her eyes open, wanting to be able to reassure the other girl when she woke, but the heat coming from the fire and the long hours of searching for Clarke made her limbs heavy, her eyes itchy with sleep. 

Her heart slowed its beat until it matched Clarke’s and words she had thought but hadn’t found the courage to speak echoed inside her skull.

_ Ai hod yu in, Klark _ .

******************************************

Clarke woke slowly, limbs sore and aching with a strange weakness. She had a shattered recollection of fevered dreams, and their cold terror lingered with an unpleasant bite inside her chest. 

She tried to move, to lift her head as her eyes blinked open sleepily, her surrounding a blur tinged in gold. Arms tightened around her and she felt a lean body press into her own, a soft, kind voice murmuring her name. 

A face hovered above her own, bright, green eyes transfixing her and Clarke was gently sucked into their depths.

“Lexa?” She became aware of her nakedness and the brunette’s own, shaking her head in puzzlement. Was this another dream? If it was she didn’t want to wake. 

“Klark, you are awake.” Fingers pressed against her cheek, Heda’s voice full of disbelief, as if she had feared that Clarke was lost to her. 

Had she been lost? Her brow furrowed, mind trying to piece together her scattered thoughts.  

When memory returned, a sudden wave that robbed her of her breath, Clarke let out a sharp cry. She almost regretted the blissful oblivion that had clouded her mind seconds before, as she remembered falling into fresh snow, cold gnawing at her hands and feet. Her half glimpsed nightmares sharpened into clarity and hot tears rolled down her cheeks as a sob full of grief split from her chest. 

Lexa pulled the blonde close, simply holding her without trying to stem the flow of the blonde’s tears. She recognized her own catharsis in the desperate way Clarke cried, grieving both the lives she’d taken and her lost innocence. 

The brunette had cried much the same way after her Ascension, hands and clothes still stained black by the blood of her fellow Initiates. 

Her friends.  

Anya had held her then until her tears had dried out and then again when she had screamed her grief for Costia into her pillow, night after night. 

She would do the same for Clarke, as long as the blonde needed her to, and perhaps after they could pick up where they had left off the day they had kissed in her tent. 

Hope blossomed into her heart, brighter than any fire mortal hands could light.


End file.
